Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Consumer prices in Uzbekistan rose by 0.6% in October 2026, while annual inflation reached 6.5%. The annual rate stood at 7.8% in October 2025 and 6.4% in September 2026. Since the beginning of the year, prices have increased by 4.8%, compared with 5.7% in January–October 2025, according to the National Statistics Committee.
Excluding fruit and vegetable products, prices rose by 0.5% during the month, the same rate as in October last year. The increase for January–October was 6.1%, compared with 7.2% a year earlier, while the annual rate stood at 6.8%, down from 8.6%.
Food was the main driver of monthly price growth. The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category rose by 1.0%, adding 0.39 percentage points to the overall index, or 62.9% of its total increase. Housing and utilities and transport together contributed 0.12 percentage points, while the remaining categories accounted for 0.11 percentage points. The overall monthly increase amounted to 0.62 percentage points.
Among major food products, excluding fruit and vegetables, eggs recorded the largest monthly increase, rising by 5.2%. Their prices were 12.7% higher than a year earlier. Chicken drumsticks and legs rose by 1.6%, while mutton, fish and seafood increased by 1.4%. Bone-in beef and whole poultry carcasses became 1.2% more expensive, minced meat rose by 1.1%, and milk prices increased by an average of 1.0%. Boneless beef rose by 0.9%, while bread made from premium-grade flour increased by 0.7%.
Over the year, meat prices recorded the most significant increases among the listed food products. Mutton rose by 19.5%, boneless beef by 17.1%, bone-in beef by 15.6% and minced meat by 14.8%. Sugar prices fell by an average of 2.2% during October but remained 0.6% higher than a year earlier.
Seasonal factors influenced fruit and vegetable prices. Lemons became 15.0% cheaper during the month, grapes fell by 7.5%, apples by 3.0% and bananas by 1.3%. Vegetable prices moved in the opposite direction: aubergines and cucumbers rose by 9.0%, tomatoes by 8.8%, bell peppers by 8.7% and potatoes by 5.3%. However, compared with October 2025, aubergines were 31.6% cheaper, cucumbers 21.2% cheaper and potatoes 3.5% cheaper.
Across the main expenditure groups, goods prices rose by 0.6% in October, by 4.3% since the beginning of the year and by 6.1% year on year. Food prices increased by 1.0% during the month and 6.4% over the year, compared with annual growth of 5.9% a year earlier. Non-food goods became 0.2% more expensive in October and 5.6% more expensive year on year.
Services prices rose by 0.6% during the month and by 6.3% since the beginning of the year, compared with 12.7% in the same period last year. Annual services inflation stood at 7.3%, down from 14.4% in October 2025.
Passenger transport fares in Tashkent changed significantly. New tariffs took effect in the capital in October, pushing metro fares up by 26.1%. Fares on Tashkent city buses also increased by 26.1%, while the average increase across Uzbekistan was 7.1%. The statistics agency took different payment methods into account when calculating the indices. Taxi fares rose by an average of 1.3%, including 2.5% in Tashkent.
Petrol prices increased by an average of 1.0% during October and by 19.5% over the year. AI-92 petrol rose by 0.5%, AI-95 by 2.6%, and AI-98 and AI-100 by 5.3%. In October, AI-92 petrol cost between 10,500 and 18,000 soums per litre, AI-95 between 13,500 and 21,500 soums, and AI-98 and AI-100 between 16,500 and 28,000 soums.
Propane prices rose by 0.4% during the month and by 44.7% year on year, with the upper end of the price range reaching 10,000 soums per litre. Methane prices remained unchanged in October but were 10.0% higher than a year earlier.
Average fuel prices were calculated using data from tax authorities covering 1–25 October. The statistics agency used 29,245 petrol price quotations from 858 outlets, 8,464 propane quotations from 368 outlets and 14,284 methane quotations from 570 outlets.
Domestic airfares fell by 1.4%, influenced by the soum's appreciation against the euro. International airfares, by contrast, rose by 0.7%, as higher fuel surcharges outweighed the downward pressure from exchange-rate movements.
Fares on suburban trains increased by 1.4%, while long-distance rail tickets became 0.6% more expensive. The increase in long-distance fares was linked to changes in the soum-to-Swiss-franc exchange rate and revisions to the coefficients used to calculate tariffs. Driving lessons and services related to obtaining a driving licence rose by 0.8%.
In the housing and utilities sector, cold water supply and sewerage tariffs increased by an average of 4.7% during the month and by 7.7% over the year. Tariffs were raised in Navoi, Samarkand and Tashkent regions. Market prices for coal sold to households rose by 0.3%, while firewood prices increased by 0.5%. In June 2026, household coal prices had risen 2.1-fold following the abolition of state regulation.
Private kindergartens increased their fees by an average of 0.6%, private schools by 0.5% and universities by 0.1%. Prices for these services at state institutions remained unchanged. Private tutoring became 1.6% more expensive, while foreign-language courses rose by 0.8%.
On an annual basis, insurance and financial services recorded the fastest price growth, at 44.5%. Housing services, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 11.8%, transport by 7.6%, and restaurant and hotel services by 7.4%. Food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased by 6.4%. Clothing and footwear, along with healthcare services, recorded the slowest annual price growth, at 3.1%.
No significant regional deviations from the national average were recorded. Monthly price increases ranged from 0.5% to 0.9%, with the highest rate recorded in Tashkent. Annual inflation ranged from 5.5% in Syrdarya region to 7.4% in the capital. Annual price growth stood at 6.7% in Samarkand region, 6.6% in Ferghana region, and 6.5% in Tashkent, Kashkadarya and Khorezm regions.
In January–October 2026, the overall consumer price index increased by 4.82 percentage points. Almost 70% of this increase came from three categories: food added 1.48 percentage points, housing and utilities 1.23 percentage points, and transport 0.65 percentage points. The remaining categories contributed 1.46 percentage points.
Since January 2026, the National Statistics Committee has also been calculating the CPI using the geometric Young formula. This indicator is intended solely for analytical purposes and does not replace the main index. In October, it stood at 100.7% month on month and 103.8% compared with December 2025.
The main inflation indicator remains the CPI calculated using the modified arithmetic Young formula, whose application was recommended by International Monetary Fund experts.
In 2026, the index is calculated using 517 items, including 419 goods and 98 services, compared with 510 items in 2025. More than 3 million price quotations were processed during October. Prices are collected from the 1st to the 25th of each month in Nukus, Tashkent, regional centres and selected cities and district centres.
